Queensland health and safety reps will be forbidden from halting unsafe work, unions will be hobbled by tighter entry rules, and maximum fines for electrical safety breaches will be 650 per cent higher, under a Bill introduced to the Queensland Parliament yesterday.
In its first anti-bullying decisions, the Fair Work Commission has rejected two applications because the alleged bullying victims didn't pay their filing fees. Meanwhile, the Northern Territory has convicted 121 people under new laws aimed at protecting workers from violence.
More than two million Australians are exposed to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) at work, but fewer than nine per cent of them fully protect themselves from the sun by using sunscreen, protective clothing and hats, and working in the shade, a new Australian study has found.
State and territory OHS laws can "operate interactively" with the Fair Work Act without undermining the Commonwealth's power to make industrial laws, the Federal Court has confirmed in ruling against an employer in a safety-related entry dispute.
A toxic safety culture not only arises from inadequate processes and procedures, but when workers are cynical and "game-playing" surrounds the reporting of injuries, according to risk expert Robert Long.
Two employers fined $100k over missing guard after amputation; MaxiTRANS enters $200k safety undertaking; WorkSafe releases new safety standard for high-risk industry; Alerts issued after 30 mobile-plant rollovers and other incidents; and Public defibrillators linked to high heart attack survival rate.
Reintroducing common law access under the proposed WorkCover SA overhaul will add complexity without improving safety, according to a Donaldson Walsh Lawyers partner, who adds that workers with significant injuries could lose out under the reforms.
OHS salaries in Brisbane and Melbourne are expected to remain at 2013 levels this year, while the average salaries of Sydney's highest paid safety managers are likely to drop by $20,000, according to a global survey.
A subcontractor who provided "perfunctory" inductions, and failed to demonstrate how to properly lift materials, has been ordered to pay an injured worker more than $330,000 in damages.
More OHS fraud comes to light; Mine inspections reveal blocked escape routes; and NSW orders more Cootes inspections as WorkCover releases safety guide.
